Encyclopedia / Hosting & delivery
Serverless function
Server code that runs only when a request arrives.
You write one function (for example /api/contact) and the platform runs it on demand, scales it and bills per call. There's no server to patch. The trade-offs are cold starts and time limits.
Related terms
Where it shows up in a page load
- Step 5: Cache miss → origin. If the edge has no fresh copy, it forwards the request to the origin. On a static site the origin just reads a file. On a dynamic site a server or serverless function runs code to build the page.
Watch the full request journey →
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Where the files live and how they reach a visitor quickly.